SOA CJ7: too top heavy?

[GaryMB]

4.0L swap: What am I in for?

I'm considering doing a soa on my cj with stock height wrangler yj springs and doing a dana 44 swap with scout II axles at the same time. My main concern is the center of gravity. I do mostly trail riding, and have come very close to rolling more than a few times with my mere 3.5" of lift. I really don't want to roll over, so here is my question: how much more tipsy will my cj7 be with a soa, and will the extra width of the scout axles compensate for the raised center of gravity? Also, is it worth it to replace my current 3.5" rancho setup? And how well will the soa handle compared to my "racing" rancho suspension?

 

[Sully]

RE: Fire up the BBQ grill !!!

I thnk the scout axles are the same width as the stock wide track(82-86) CJ7 axles. As for the SOA I have no clue so I wont tell you my BS answer. I think it's worth it to change your current suspension set up. That's what I started with back in the day and I was thinking the same thing. I want to go bigger.

(rancho 2.5, 1 inch body lift and 33's)

I ended up going bigger. I decides to go with the rubicon express 4.5 extreme duty lift. I am very happy with it, it gave me enough room to clear 35's! Even without my body lift 35's would fit easy. Once these tires are gone I will scoot up to 35's. It handles about as good as the rancho but the ride is alot better and it travels alot more offroad. THe most I have messured is 19 inches of travel in the front, and like 14 in the rear. All 4 wheels stay on the ground too which is totally sick! Lets just say I havent had it stuffed the tires yet!

(rubicon express 4.5, 1 inch body lift and 33's)

 

[Junkpile]

The Scout II axles are about two inches wider than the CJ widetracks. Scout IIs prior to 1975(?) have Dana30 front axles. Scout (not Scout II) axles are narrow D44 rear and drum brake D30 or lighter front axles, so make sure you get Scout II axles, not Scout axles.

I've got Scout II D44s under my CJ7. The biggest problems are that the rear axle tubes are thin, the front steering knuckles have funky long arms on them that require a Scout II pitman to retain full steering, and of course the big one......there is no caster built into the front axle, except the 80 models which have 2 degrees built-in. With a SOA, I would recommend cutting the inner knuckles loose and turning them to give about 4-5 degrees.

I've got a trussed rear and I'm running CJ D30 knuckles on the uncut D44 front. Less than perfect, but good enough.

**As a side note: If in your Scout II hunting you happen to come across a 1980 model, get the Tcase as well as the axles. It will be a D300 that has a D20 bolt pattern and input. The 1980 Scout II was the only vehicle to ever have it. Even if you never use it yourself, they are getting very hard to find($$$). 1980 models are easy to spot, they are the only year with square headlights.

 

[jps4jeep]

How about early bronco axles? have you considered them at all? I see them in the want ad's around New England usually selling at $400 for the pair (average price) If you also want to get a little more into it, late 70's F250 axles would be a good doner set up will require a Full width kit.

 

[Junkpile]

Fords have the front diff on the drivers side.